Menu Planning Ideas for Camping

Before you set off on your great outdoor adventure, ask yourself, what's good to eat? There are many considerations before selecting a menu for you and your camping buddies, such as the number of people around, number of meals that need to be cooked, location and available facilities, et cetera.

The easiest types of food to bring are in cans, such as beans and soups. Not much preparation is needed, just enough heating. You can also bring along a cooler to stuff in your meat products, like pork chops, steaks, hot dogs, chicken, and sausages. Since you will be cooking by the fire, it would also be great to roast vegetables like corn and potatoes. If you will be out for longer, you will need sustainable energy sources, consider adding rice to your menu while camping. Fish is also easy to cook while camping, as long as you know how to clean the fish properly. But if not, you can always purchase filleted fish from your market.

Among the most important things to have with you as you go camping, aside from the above mentioned smart menu plan and the essential gear, is a reliable set of camping cookware. One of the most common types of camping cookware you can find in the market is cast iron, and there are tons of benefits to selecting this as your gear for cooking.

A lot of people presented with this suggestion often ask, why choose cast iron cookware? For one thing, cast iron is very heavy duty, and you won't have to fret about dings and dents whenever you drop them. The surface is also scratch resistant, and can retain heat longer, so cooking over a fire is faster. Cast iron is highly recommended because of even distribution of heat, so foods cook evenly on all sides. Plus, even if they are not made of Teflon, cast iron cookware is very easy to clean.

Planning menus for camping is easy. Be sure to keep in mind the weather. If it's cool in the evenings and mornings, most people will enjoy a hot meal and drink. If it's hot during the day, a simple meal of hot dogs for lunch will be enjoyed. Pancakes are always loved by kids as are grilled cheese sandwiches cooked to perfection in a cast-iron sandwich maker. Soup is simple for a quick meal. Just open the can and dump it into a pan to warm up.

Keep in mind the time you'll have available for clean up. Don't plan a big meal if you won't have enough time afterwards to clean up. Bears like food, so if your scraps are hanging around while you're out on a hike, you might get some unwelcome camp food raiders! Think ahead and you'll have a fantastic time eating and camping!